Charging coupler having handle and electronic vehicle charging apparatus including the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are an electric vehicle charging coupler having a handle and an electric vehicle charging apparatus including the same. The electric vehicle charging coupler includes a coupler body having one side on which a charging port to be mounted to a charging port of an electric vehicle is formed to perform charging, a cable inlet part which is formed in an upper portion of the coupler body and into which a charging cable is inserted, and a handle formed to extend from the other side of the coupler body to be held by a hand and provided separately from the cable inlet part. Therefore, the electric vehicle can be easily charged by easily handling the thick and heavy charging cable.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 2019-0101396, filed Aug. 19, 2019, the contents of whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electric vehicle charging couplerhaving a handle and an electric vehicle charging apparatus including thesame, and more particularly, to an electric vehicle charging couplerhaving a handle for easily mounting, when an electric vehicle is beingcharged, a charging coupler connected to a heavy and thick chargingcable to a charging port of the electric vehicle, and an electricvehicle charging apparatus including the same.

Discussion of Related Art

Recently, as the severity of air pollution problems, such as fine dustand the like, increases, the use of electric vehicles is encouraged andthe number of users is increasing. Thus, the number of electric vehiclecharging stations for electric vehicle charging is increasing, and thereis an increasing need for electric vehicle charging apparatusesinstalled in a small size in public institutions and the like and anincreasing need for a home charging apparatus for charging an electricvehicle at home.

The electric vehicle charging apparatus for charging an electric vehiclerequires a charging main body having a power supply module embeddedtherein, and a charging cable and a charging coupler for charging theelectric vehicle with electricity supplied from the power supply module.When a user inserts the charging coupler into a charging port of theelectric vehicle, the charging cable should be effortlessly handled.However, since a charging cable for fast and super-fast charging isinflexible, the user feels uncomfortable when handling the chargingcable.

That is, in the case of the charging cable for fast and super-fastcharging, since a high current should flow and thus a large amount ofheat is generated and a high temperature is generated, a flow paththrough which a refrigerant flows for cooling is additionally embeddedin the charging cable. Therefore, since the charging cable for fast andsuper-fast charging is not only thick in thickness but also low inflexibility, it is not easy to handle such as when pulling or bendingthe charging cable for charging.

When the charging cable for fast and super-fast charging is employed inthe existing charging apparatus, a user should directly handle thecharging cable such as transferring the charging cable according to aposition of the charging port of the electric vehicle. However, since itis not easy to handle the charging cable for fast and super-fastcharging due to a characteristic of the charging cable, inconvenience ofthe user is large. That is, since a location of a charging port isdifferent for each electric vehicle and a thickness of the chargingcable is large and flexibility thereof is low such that it is not easyto handle the charging cable, the user is inconvenienced. In particular,it is not easy for the transportation disadvantaged such as a disabledperson, an elderly person, or a woman to insert the charging couplerinto the charging port by pulling or bending the charging cable.

Therefore, when the charging cable for fast and super-fast charging istransferred to a position of the charging port of the electric vehicleand then the charging coupler is inserted into the charging port, thereis a need to develop the charging coupler or the charging apparatus forcharging the electric vehicle, in which a coupling position of thecharging coupler and the charging port can be easily adjusted even bythe transportation disadvantaged such as a disabled person, an elderlyperson, and a woman in addition to a general user by finely adjustingthe charging cable vertically.

RELATED ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

(Patent Document 0001) Korean Patent Laid-Open Application No.10-2018-0115963 (Oct. 24, 2018)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an electric vehicle chargingcoupler having a handle for easily mounting a charging coupler to acharging port of an electric vehicle by forming the handle separatelyfrom a cable inlet part through which a charging cable is inserted intothe electric vehicle charging coupler, and an electric vehicle chargingapparatus including the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anelectric vehicle charging coupler including a coupler body having oneside on which a charging port to be mounted to a charging port of anelectric vehicle is formed to perform charging, a cable inlet part whichis formed in an upper portion of the coupler body and into which acharging cable is inserted, and a handle formed to extend from the otherside of the coupler body to be held by a hand and provided separatelyfrom the cable inlet part.

The handle may include a height adjustment button configured to move thecharging coupler up or down, and a lock button configured to operate alocking mechanism when the charging coupler is mounted to the chargingport of the electric vehicle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan electric vehicle charging apparatus including a charging main bodyhaving a power supply module which is embedded therein to supplycharging power to an electric vehicle, a charging cable configured totransmit direct current (DC) power supplied from the charging main bodyto the electric vehicle, a charging cable transfer member configured totransfer the charging cable to a charging port of the electric vehicle,and an electric vehicle charging coupler connected to a distal end ofthe charging cable and having a handle which is formed separately from acable inlet part into which the charging cable is inserted.

The charging cable transfer member may include a canopy formed to coveran upper side of the charging main body, and an automatic reel which ismovably installed on the canopy and on which the charging cable iswound. A height adjustment button may be provided in the electricvehicle charging coupler so as to move the electric vehicle chargingcoupler up or down by unwinding or winding the charging cable from or onthe automatic reel.

Alternatively, the charging cable transfer member may include a mountingbracket mounted on an upper portion of the charging main body, acircular rail mounted on the mounting bracket, a driving body movablyinstalled on the circular rail, and a height adjustment part connectedto the charging cable and coupled to the driving body to be verticallyascendable and descendable. A height adjustment button is provided onthe electric vehicle charging coupler so as to control the heightadjustment part to vertically ascend and descend.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart by describing exemplary embodiments thereof in detail with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electric vehiclecharging coupler according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of anelectric vehicle charging apparatus including the electric vehiclecharging coupler according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram comparing the electric vehicle charging coupleraccording to one embodiment of the present invention with that of therelated art; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of anelectric vehicle charging apparatus including an electric vehiclecharging coupler according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In order to describe the present invention, operational advantages ofthe present invention, and objectives achieved by practicing the presentinvention, the present invention will be described with reference toexemplary embodiments that will be given below.

The terms used herein are employed to describe only specific embodimentsand are not intended to limit the present invention. Unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise, the singular form includes the plural form.

It should be understood that the terms “comprise,” “include,” and “have”specify the presence of stated herein features, numbers, steps,operations, components, elements, or combinations thereof, but do notpreclude the presence or possibility of adding one or more otherfeatures, numbers, steps, operations, components, elements, orcombinations thereof.

In the following description of the present invention, when a detaileddescription of related known configurations or functions is determinedto obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed descriptionthereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, an electric vehicle charging coupler having a handle and anelectric vehicle charging apparatus including the same according toexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electric vehiclecharging coupler according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a charging coupler 100 of the present inventionincludes a first port 112, a second port 114, and a locking mechanism116 which are formed on a front surface of a coupler body 110 andincludes a cable inlet part 130, through which a charging cable 240 isinserted, formed on a front surface of the coupler body 110. Further,the handle 150 which is holdable by a user is formed to extend from thecoupler body 110 separately from the cable inlet part 130, and a heightadjustment button 152 and a lock button 154 are provided on the handle150.

The first port 112 is a direct current (DC) power charging port for fastcharging and includes a plus (+) terminal and a minus (−) terminal.

The second port 114 is an alternating current (AC) power charging portfor slow charging and includes two AC power terminals, a proximitysensing terminal, a ground (GND) terminal, and a communication terminalfor communicating with an electric vehicle.

When the charging coupler 100 is mounted to a charging port of theelectric vehicle, the locking mechanism 116 fixes the charging coupler100 to the charging port so as to prevent the charging coupler 100 frombeing released from the charging port. The locking mechanism 116 isvertically pivotable due to an operation of the lock button 154. When auser presses the lock button 154 while mounting the charging coupler 100to the charging port, the locking mechanism 116 is pivoted upward, and,when the lock button 154 is released, the locking mechanism 116 returnsto an original position thereof so that the charging coupler 100 isfixed to the charging port. In contrast, when the charging coupler 100is detached from the charging port, a lock state of the lock button 154is released when the lock button 154 is pressed so that the chargingcoupler 100 is separated from the charging port.

When the charging coupler 100 is mounted to the charging port of theelectric vehicle, the locking mechanism 116 may prevent a connectionstate between the charging coupler 100 and the charging port from beingloosened or prevent the connection state from being loosened due to anexternal impact, thereby achieving stable charging.

In the present invention, the charging cable 240 is installed to have astructure in which the charging cable 240 descends from an upper side,and the cable inlet part 130 is formed in an upper portion of thecoupler body 110. Thus, the user may easily transfer the charging cable240 to the charging port of the electric vehicle without lifting orbending the charging cable 240.

The handle 150 is formed at a side opposite to the front surface onwhich the first port 112 and the second port 114 are formed in thecoupler body 110. That is, the handle 150 may be formed on one side ofthe coupler body 110 so as to insert the first port 112 and the secondport 114, which are formed on the other side of the coupler body 110,into the charging port. The user may easily adjust a mounting angle ofthe charging coupler 100 by holding the handle 150 formed separatelyfrom the cable inlet part 130.

The height adjustment button 152 and the lock button 154 are provided onthe handle 150. The height adjustment button 152 is formed on an upperportion of the handle 150 at a position operable by a thumb, and thelock button 154 is formed in a lower portion of the handle 150 at aposition operable by an index finger.

When the user presses the height adjustment button 152, the chargingcoupler 100 ascends or descends. That is, the charging coupler 100 ofthe present invention is connected to a distal end of the charging cable240, and when the height adjustment button 152 is pressed, the chargingcoupler 100 ascends or descends while the charging cable 240 ascends ordescends due to a charging cable transfer part at the upper side.

More specifically, when a front side of the height adjustment button 152is pressed, the charging coupler 100 descends while the charging cable240 descends downward, and when a rear side of the height adjustmentbutton 152 is pressed, the charging coupler 100 ascends while thecharging cable 240 ascends upward. An operation of the height adjustmentbutton 152 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2and 4 .

In one embodiment of the present invention, the charging coupler 100 ofa DC combo method capable of performing both fast charging and slowcharging has been described, but the present invention is not limitedthereto. That is, the formation of each of the cable inlet part 130 andthe handle 150 may be applied to all types of the charging coupler 100for an electric vehicle.

According to the charging coupler 100 of the present invention, the usermay easily mount the charging ports 112 and 114 to the charging port ofthe electric vehicle by holding the handle 150 and matching the chargingports 112 and 114 with a direction of the charging port of the electricvehicle without laboriously lifting the heavy and thick charging cable240 to mount the charging coupler 100 to the charging port of theelectric vehicle. Further, a charging height is finely adjusted byoperating the height adjustment button 152 provided on the handle 150and then the charging coupler 100 may be mounted to the charging port ofthe electric vehicle easily even with one hand.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of anelectric vehicle charging apparatus including the electric vehiclecharging coupler according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , an electric vehicle charging apparatus 200 of thepresent invention includes a charging main body 210, a canopy 230, anautomatic reel 250, a charging cable 240, and a charging coupler 100.

The charging main body 210 is formed with a predetermined height andinstalled to stand on the ground. A power supply module for supplyingcharging power is embedded in the charging main body 210. That is, anAC/DC converter (not shown) for converting AC power into DC power isprovided in the charging main body 210. The DC power converted in theAC/DC converter is supplied to charge a battery of the electric vehicle.Alternatively, DC power converted through a separately provided DC/DCconverter may be supplied for charging the electric vehicle.

A coupler accommodation box 220 is provided in the charging main body210. When charging is not being performed, the charging coupler 100 isaccommodated in the coupler accommodation box 220. In addition to a cardreader (not shown) for paying a charging fee with a credit card, variousbuttons for controlling operations of the electric vehicle chargingapparatus 200, such as a button (not shown) for selecting a chargingtype of the electric vehicle which will be charged, an emergency button(not shown) for interrupting charging in an emergency situation, and thelike, are provided on a front surface of the charging main body 210.

The canopy 230 is formed to cover an upper side of the charging mainbody 210 and extends to an area in which the electric vehicle is parked.The automatic reel 250 on which the charging cable 240 is wound isinstalled on the canopy 230. As shown in FIG. 2 , the automatic reel 250is installed to be reciprocatably transferred between the charging mainbody 210 and the area in which the electric vehicle is parked.

Here, when a user holds and pulls the charging coupler 100 to performcharging, the automatic reel 250 is installed to be manually transferredin front of the electric vehicle which is parked or installed to beautomatically transferred upon pressing of an automatic reel transferbutton (not shown) provided on the front surface of the charging mainbody 210 by the user.

The charging cable 240 transmits the DC power supplied from the chargingmain body 210 to the electric vehicle. Since a high current passesthrough the charging cable 240 for fast charging and thus high heat isgenerated, a flow path through which a refrigerant for cooling flows isadditionally embedded in the charging cable 240 so that the chargingcable 240 becomes thick and heavy.

The thick and heavy charging cable 240 is easily transferred to aposition of the charging port without a large effort due to theautomatic reel 250 installed at the upper side. Further, since thecharging cable 240 is installed to have a structure which descends fromthe upper side, the user may easily transfer the charging cable 240 tothe charging port of the electric vehicle without lifting or bending thecharging cable 240.

The charging cable 240 is wound on the automatic reel 250. When thecharging cable 240 wound on the automatic reel 250 is unwound, thecharging coupler 100 descends, and, when the charging cable 240 is woundon the automatic reel 250, the charging coupler 100 ascends.

The charging coupler 100 is connected to the distal end of the chargingcable 240 and has the handle 150 which is formed separately from thecable inlet part 130 through which the charging cable 240 is inserted. Aconfiguration of the charging coupler 100 is the same as that describedwith reference to FIG. 1 , and, since the electric vehicle chargingapparatus 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 is dedicated to DC power charging,only the communication terminal of the second port 114 of the chargingcoupler 100 is used.

The height adjustment button 152 is provided on the charging coupler 100so as to move the charging coupler 100 up or down such that a height ofthe charging port of the electric vehicle is aligned with a height ofthe charging coupler 100. The user operates the height adjustment button152 to finely adjust the height of the charging coupler 100 by unwindingthe charging cable 240 wound on the automatic reel 250 or winding thecharging cable 240 on the automatic reel 250. That is, it is possible tofinely adjust the height of the charging coupler 100 according to aposition of the charging port which is different in height for eachelectric vehicle by operating the height adjustment button 152.

FIG. 3 is a diagram comparing the electric vehicle charging coupleraccording to one embodiment of the present invention with that of therelated art.

FIG. 3A illustrates a conventional electric vehicle charging coupler 10,and FIG. 3B illustrates the electric vehicle charging coupler 100 of thepresent invention.

In the conventional charging coupler 10, a charging cable 20 isconnected to a cable inlet part 11, and the user uses the cable inletpart 11 as a handle. That is, the user should hold the cable inlet part11 and pull the charging cable 20 to match the conventional chargingcoupler 10 to the charging port of the electric vehicle.

However, since the charging cable 20 for fast charging is heavy andlacking in flexibility, it is not easy to bend the charging cable 20such that it is difficult to handle the charging cable 20 to be woundand the like. Further, when a length of the charging cable 20 is long,the charging cable 20 may fall from a mounting position to a floor andthus may be worn or damaged due to friction with the floor. As describedabove, when the charging cable 20 is damaged, there is a risk ofelectric shock and thus a safety problem may occur.

In the electric vehicle charging coupler 100 of the present invention,the handle 150 is formed separately from the cable inlet part 130, andthe charging cable 240 is installed to have a structure which descendsfrom the upper side. Therefore, the user may easily mount the chargingcoupler 100 to the charging port of the electric vehicle by holding thehandle 150 only with one hand without bending the charging cable 240which is heavy and has less flexibility.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of anelectric vehicle charging apparatus including an electric vehiclecharging coupler according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , an electric vehicle charging apparatus 300according to another embodiment of the present invention includes acharging main body 310, a mounting bracket 330, a circular rail 340, adriving body 350, a charging cable 360, and a charging coupler 100.

The charging main body 310 is formed with a predetermined height andinstalled to stand on the ground. A power supply module for supplyingcharging power is embedded in the charging main body 310. Further, acoupler accommodation box 320 is provided in the charging main body 310.When charging is not performed, the charging coupler 100 is accommodatedin the coupler accommodation box 320.

In addition to a card reader (not shown) for paying a charging fee witha credit card, various control buttons for controlling operations of theelectric vehicle charging apparatus 300, such as a button (not shown)for selecting a charging type of the electric vehicle which will becharged, an emergency button (not shown) for interrupting charging in anemergency situation, and the like are provided on a front surface of thecharging main body 310.

The mounting bracket 330 is installed on an upper portion of thecharging main body 310, and the circular rail 340 is installed on themounting bracket 330. A cable cradle 331 is formed above the mountingbracket 330 such that the charging cable 360 drawn out from the chargingmain body 310 to the outside is mounted on the cable cradle 331. Thecable cradle 331 is formed to extend toward a center of the circularrail 340.

The driving body 350 is movably installed on the circular rail 340 andmoved to a stop position of the electric vehicle. That is, the drivingbody 350 transfers the charging cable 360 to a position of the chargingport of the electric vehicle according to the stop position of theelectric vehicle.

When the user holds and pulls the charging coupler 100 to performcharging, the driving body 350 is installed to be manually transferredin front of the electric vehicle which is parked or installed to beautomatically transferred upon pressing of an automatic reel transferbutton (not shown) provided on the front surface of the charging mainbody 310 by the user.

A height adjustment part 351 which vertically ascends or descends iscoupled to the driving body 350, and the charging cable 360 is connectedto the height adjustment part 351. Therefore, when the height adjustmentpart 351 descends, the charging coupler 100 connected to a distal end ofthe charging cable 360 also descends, and, when the height adjustmentpart 351 ascends, the charging coupler 100 also ascends.

The charging cable 360 transmits the DC power supplied from the chargingmain body 310 to the electric vehicle. Since a high current passesthrough the charging cable 360 for fast charging and thus high heat isgenerated, a flow path through which a refrigerant for cooling flows isadditionally embedded in the charging cable 360 so that the chargingcable 360 becomes thick and heavy.

The thick and heavy charging cable 360 is easily transferred to aposition of the charging port without a large effort due to the drivingbody 350 installed on the circular rail 340. That is, since the chargingcable 360 is installed to have a structure which descends from the upperside, the user may easily transfer the charging cable 360 to thecharging port of the electric vehicle without lifting or bending thecharging cable 240.

The charging coupler 100 is connected to the distal end of the chargingcable 360 and has the handle 150 which is formed separately from thecable inlet part 130 through which the charging cable 360 is inserted. Aconfiguration of the charging coupler 100 is the same as that describedwith reference to FIG. 1 , and, since the electric vehicle chargingapparatus 300 illustrated in FIG. 4 is dedicated to DC power charging,only the communication terminal of the second port 114 of the chargingcoupler 100 is used.

The height adjustment button 152 is provided on the charging coupler 100so as to move the charging coupler 100 up or down such that a height ofthe charging port of the electric vehicle is aligned with a height ofthe charging coupler 100. The user operates the height adjustment button152 to finely adjust a height of the charging coupler 100 by verticallymoving the height adjustment part 351 coupled to the driving body 350 upor down. That is, it is possible to finely adjust the height of thecharging coupler 100 according to a position of the charging port whichis different in height for each electric vehicle by operating the heightadjustment button 152.

In accordance with an electric vehicle charging coupler having a handleand an electric vehicle charging apparatus including the same accordingto the present invention, a user can easily mount a charging coupler toa charging port of an electric vehicle by easily adjusting a mountingangle of the charging coupler using a handle which is formed separatelyfrom a charging cable inlet part.

Further, since the charging cable is installed to have a structure whichdescends from an upper side, the user can easily transfer the chargingcable without a large effort to lift or bend the charging cable.

Further, a height adjustment button provided on the charging coupler isoperated such that the charging coupler can be exactly mounted to thecharging port by adjusting a charging height with one hand withouthandling the heavy and thick charging cables with both hands.

The above-described description of the present invention is intendedonly for an illustrative purpose, and it can be easily understood thatother concrete forms can be devised by those skilled in the art withoutchanging or modifying the technical spirit or essential characteristicsof the present invention.

Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodimentsare not restrictive but illustrative in all aspects. For example, eachcomponent described as a single form may be distributed and implemented,and similarly, components described as being distributed may also beimplemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claimsrather than the detailed description, and it should be construed thatall alternations or modifications derived from the meaning and scope ofthe appended claims and the equivalents thereof fall within the scope ofthe present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electric vehicle charging coupler comprising:a coupler body comprising a first end part opposite to a second end partin a longitudinal direction of the coupler body, wherein a charging portis disposed on the first end part and mounted to a charging port of anelectric vehicle for charging; a cable inlet part disposed on anadjacent area of the second end part of the coupler body and into whicha charging cable is inserted; and a handle connected to the second endpart of the coupler body to be held by a hand, wherein the handleincludes: a height adjustment button configured to move the chargingcoupler up or down; and a lock button configured to operate a lockerwhen the charging coupler is mounted to the charging port of theelectric vehicle.
 2. The electric vehicle charging coupler of claim 1,wherein the cable inlet part includes a protruding part exposed from thecoupler body and that protrudes from the second end part of the couplerbody.
 3. The electric vehicle charging coupler of claim 2, wherein apart of the charging cable is covered by the protruding part of thecable inlet part.
 4. The electric vehicle charging coupler of claim 2,wherein a first angle between the longitudinal direction of the couplerbody and a longitudinal direction of the cable inlet part is greaterthan a second angle between a longitudinal direction of the handle andthe longitudinal direction of the cable inlet part.
 5. The electricvehicle charging coupler of claim 4, wherein the charging port includesa direct current (DC) power charging port and an alternating current(AC) power charging port, wherein the direct current (DC) power chargingport is adjacent to the alternating current (AC) power charging port ina first direction of the coupler body that intersects with thelongitudinal direction of the coupler body.
 6. The electric vehiclecharging coupler of claim 5, wherein the direct current (DC) powercharging port includes a plus (+) terminal and a minus (−) terminal, andwherein the alternating current (AC) power charging port includes two ACpower terminals, a proximity sensing terminal, a ground (GND) terminal,and a communication terminal for communicating with the electricvehicle.
 7. The electric vehicle charging coupler of claim 6, whereinthe locker is disposed on the first end part of the coupler body,wherein the alternating current (AC) power charging port is locatedbetween the direct current (DC) power charging port and the locker inthe first direction.
 8. The electric vehicle charging coupler of claim7, wherein a width of the direct current (DC) power charging port isgreater than a width of the alternating current (AC) power charging portin a second direction that intersects with the first direction and thelongitudinal direction of the coupler body, and wherein a width of thelocker is smaller than the width of the alternating current (AC) powercharging port in the second direction.